The guide on the second trip told us these little bats lined up to resemble a poisonous snake. They remain motionless until threatened, then wiggle their bodies and that motion re-inforces their masquerade act. As our boat drifted close to observe them that was exactly what they did! The boat, of course, backed off right away because we didn't want to upset these little guys any further.

Safari West held two kinds of giraffes, the reticulated and the masai. Reticulated giraffes have almost-white lines between large blocks of color. Masai giraffes have more leafy shaped spots and the space between them is light tan.

The first day of the river cruise and we were just south of Iquitos on the Amazon. Someone spotted dolphins ahead of us and we had a great time watching them leap in and out of the brown water. I was extremely lucky to catch this one in mid-air.

We were told they were River Dolphins but after research it seems more likely it was a Tucuxi (pronounced too-koo-shi).

I saw many of these impressive birds during my week in the Amazon and this is the closest I got to one. I was in a skiff with a dozen other people and we motored slowly along the shoreline spotting wildlife.

We saw at least 20 different species of birds and animals in one outing and we went on at least two outings a day so we saw a riches of wildlife in that short week. And it was hot, oh so very hot.

I took many photos of this flycatcher and this was the only one that turned out to be even close to being in focus. It didn't sit still very long and the boat I was in moved constantly and that was a tough combination. When I finally took this good picture I felt I had really managed to accomplish something.

A bird in flight against an overcast sky framed by jungle trees. A memorable moment.

Angela Beske, Tuesday 5 January 2010

I just wanted you to know that I chose this most wonderful photo
as the background of my work desk top: I looked at a lot of
your photos in the past half hour.. it was not an easy choice!!
This one worked best because I can see my short cuts on the
dark back ground on the bottom-. Thank YOU!!!!!

Here are two Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) and a scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) perched on top of their outdoor aviary on the hotel grounds. They were free to come and go as they pleased and a couple of them were high overhead in the trees.